Jeff Wei是一位勇往直前的创业者，身兼两职，却每天睡到九点才起。不过，用他自己的话说，他的第二份工作——在一家跨国公司当高级项目经理——可是干到夜里一点才下班的。
正午时分他会到店里，那是他和八位MBA同学今年7月在上海开的餐厅——Cheers。
"在这里人人都知道你的名字，"Jeff Wei笑着说，他今年34岁，在台湾长大。"当然，看过那个电视节目的中国人不多，但不管怎样，他们喜欢这里的氛围。"
西方人似乎也喜欢这里的氛围——店里有一半主顾是西方人。"老外喜欢家乡风味，"身为Cheers首席执行官的Jeff Wei解释道。
Jeff Wei表示，很多老外到这里用餐，仅此一点就会吸引上海日渐壮大的中产阶层，因为他们渴望感受西方的生活方式。
一起开餐厅的九个人为八男一女，全都是不列颠哥伦比亚大学尚德商学院(Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia)和上海交通大学(SJTU)共同开设的国际MBA课程2009年级的学员。其中的六个人在刚开学时就被分到了一个小组，一起完成了各种各样的项目。毕业后他们又拉来了另外三名同学。
"起初我们讲的甚至不是同一种语言，"Jeff Wei表示。他会说英语、国语和日语。"我们有几个是中国人，有几个不是在加拿大就是在美国长大的，还有一个来自泰国。但到课程结束时，我们都能很好地用英语和国语交流。"
Jeff Wei上MBA，部分是为了结交志同道合的同学。"交大是知名学府，在那里上学，你会遇到上海最聪明的一些人，有助于你建立人脉。如果你想在中国创业，人脉十分重要。即使你已经有了基本的创业计划，通过读MBA结识的人，对于你以后落实创业计划也具有难以估量的价值。"
除了建立关系网，Jeff Wei认为，攻读MBA课程对于管理成功企业也至关重要。财务管理、会计和营销课程都证明很有用处，但让人受益最大的是案例研究和各种项目。
"我们合作过一个特别有意思的项目，是对星巴克(Starbucks)进行营销案例分析。我们发现这个案例很吸引人：他们怎么从西雅图一家小咖啡店起步、获得成功并保持这种成功？他们是如何在中国发展业务的？做这个项目期间，我们就如何在上海创建一家成功的企业交流了许多想法。"
"通过紧密合作，我们发现了各自的长处……大概就是在做这个项目的时候，我们决定了要合伙创业。"
Jeff Wei表示，上海的中产阶层正在迅速壮大，他们手头很宽裕。决定了开餐厅后，他们知道必须要有特色才能吸引这一阶层。"我们觉得整个上海没有与我们相似的商业模式。如果经营得好，我们会很成功。"
他们凑了200万元人民币（合29.9万美元），开起了餐厅。九个人都持有相同的股权，但由执行委员会负责管理。
Jeff Wei极为倚重两位同学：担任首席财务官的Ivan Sun，以及利用自己身为本地人的优势、采购最具性价比物资的采购经理Perry Shen。刚开始很难办妥相应的执照和许可证，Jeff Wei说，"Ivan在这上面出了大力"。
执委会制定了开业后头半年实现100万元人民币营业额的目标，并希望在接下来两年取得20-30%的增长。执委会还在接洽风险投资家。
Jeff Wei表示："我们计划年底再开一家Cheers。我们还找过校友，他们目前还没有向我们注过资，但有些校友表示对上海的发展机会很感兴趣。"
在巡视过餐厅后，Jeff Wei会在下午六点离开餐厅，开始项目经理的工作。"工作很累，但也非常令人兴奋。就做生意来说，上海是全世界最棒的地方。"
译者/杨远
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001035160
For an intrepid entrepreneur holding down two jobs, Jeff Wei wakes at a leisurely 9am. In his defence, however, he only finishes his second job as a senior project manager for a multinational company after 1am.
By midday he is at the Shanghai restaurant, Cheers, which he and eight classmates from his MBA programme opened in July.
"It's a place where everyone knows your name," laughs Mr Wei, 34, who grew up in Taiwan. "Of course not many Chinese people have seen the TV show but they like the atmosphere here anyway."
So, it seems, do the westerners who make up half the restaurant's clientele. "Expats like a taste of home," explains Mr Wei, the restaurant's chief executive.
The expats' mere presence, according to Mr Wei, attracts Shanghai's growing middle classes, who are eager to sample a western lifestyle.
The nine restaurateurs, eight men and a woman, were all members of the class of 2009 international MBA programme run at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia and Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. Six of the nine were placed in an original team at the start of the programme to work on various projects and they poached the remaining trio after graduating.
"Initially, we didn't even talk the same language," says Mr Wei, who speaks English, Mandarin and Japanese. "Some of us are Chinese, others grew up in Canada or the US and another comes from Thailand. By the end of the course though we all communicated effectively in both English and Chinese."
Mr Wei enrolled in the MBA partly to make contact with like-minded students. "Jiao Tong is a prestigious school and going there allows you to meet some of the brightest people in Shanghai. It helps you build connections, which are very important if you're trying to start a business in China. Even if you already have a basic plan for your venture, the MBA allows you to network with people who will be of incredible value to that plan in the future."
Networking aside, Mr Wei believes the MBA course work is crucial to running a successful business. Financial management, accounting and marketing courses have proved useful, but it is the case studies and projects that have been most beneficial.
"One particular project we worked together on stands out. It was a marketing case study on Starbucks. We found it fascinating how they successfully started out their business from a small coffee shop in Seattle and maintained that success and managed to grow the operation in China. During that project, we exchanged many ideas on how to start a successful business in Shanghai.
"By working together so closely we discovered each other's strengths . . . It was probably during that project that we decided to form our partnership to open a business."
Shanghai has an exploding middle class with plenty of money to spend, says Mr Wei and once they had settled on Cheers they knew they needed something different to attract the crowds. "We felt that there was no similar business model in the city and that if we could get it right, we'd be quite successful," he adds.
They contributed Rmb2m ($299,000) to set up the business. All nine stakeholders have an equal partnership, but an executive board runs the business.
Mr Wei relies heavily on his MBA colleagues Ivan Sun, the chief financial officer, and Perry Shen, who uses his knowledge as a Shanghai native to get the best deals as the procurement manager. Initially it was difficult to secure the right permits, says Mr Wei, "Which was where Ivan proved very helpful".
The executive board has set a target of Rmb1m turnover for the first six months and wants to grow the business by 20 to 30 per cent in the next two years. The board has also been in contact with venture capitalists.
"We plan to open another Cheers by the end of the year. We've also spoken to the school's alumni. They haven't put up any money yet but some of the alumni are interested in opportunities in Shanghai," says Mr Wei.
After overseeing the restaurant's operations, Mr Wei heads out at 6pm to begin work as a project manager. "It's exhausting, but it's also very exciting. Shanghai is the best place in the world to do business."
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